Damned quiet; quietly damned?

OK, so I had a bit of a stumble as you can see from the recap. That 16 really hurt me, at least for a little while that day. I ended up not running (or swimming) again until the following weekend just because I was plain tired. Since then, however, I'm back at it. Got all three training runs in last week, did all my iron work (but still haven't been back in the pool). Will fix that as the week goes on. And after I get on the scale tomorrow (promise).

One other thing I'm noticing. I guess it's because I've taken more off days that I'm used to, but I feel like I'm packing the weight back on and getting slower and fatter. For instance, felt wicked slow during Sunday's 12miler. Then I saw that it's the 2nd fastest 12 miles I ever ran (actually ran 19 at a slightly faster pace back in early October). Today I didn't feel particular quick, but it was the 2nd fastest 4 miles I've ever run. My fastest 4? Also back in October. I'm not sure I like that pattern too much.

The Damage:
11/22: Off day
11/23: AM Iron
11/24: AM Iron
11/25: AM Iron
11/26: Off day
11/27: Off day
11/28: 8 miler (1:36:18 or 12:02 per)
11/29: 2.91miler (32:19 or 11:05 per)
11/30: AM Iron
12/1: AM Iron; 3.05miler (33:04 or 10:51 per)
12/2: AM Iron; 3.2miler (36:46 or 11:28 per)
12/3: Off day
12/4: Off day
12/5: 12.01miler (2:24:14 or 12:00 per)
12/6: 4.19miler (45:06 or 10:46 per)

Oh, by the way. Signed up for the race last night. Looks like I'm committed.

Or at least should be.

Forget about me yet?

OK, so I haven't been posting in recent days, but that doesn't mean I haven't been active. First the bad, however.

Brother came to town as advertised. And while that in itself is a good thing, the excessive amounts of mexican food, more frequent beers, breakfast burritos...well, you get the idea. Tried to maintain some control during the together time, but not really sure how well I did. Guess the scale tomorrow will tell the tale.

There's been much good during that time, however. Since I was last in here on the 9th, the hit list looks like this:

11/10: 1 mile swim

11/11: iron work in the morning, 3 mile run that evening

11/12: iron in the AM, mile swim in the PM

11/13: off day

11/14: 8 mile run

11/15: AM iron

11/16: mile swim at lunch, 3+ mile run after lunch

11/17: mile swim that night

11/18: AM iron, 4.5 mile run at lunch

11/19: AM iron

11/20: off day

11/21: 16 mile run

A fairly decent showing, but the last entry kind of scared me. The 16 hurt. Legs started cramping again, and again I don't think I was drinking enough water. Will I EVER learn? On the plus side, however, I appear to have run that distance 13 1/2 minutes faster than the same distance along mostly the same path just 4 months ago. That's improvement.

Right?

Nope, haven't flaked yet

OK, well maybe just a bit. Monday was a hot mess all the way around, so didn't get the workout in that I'd hope, but think I may have made up for it today with a bit of vengeance. Got up and went the gym and lifted at 6:15, hit the pool for a mile over lunch, and then knocked off the 3miler above after work (about 11:05/per). Not a bad day, but not likely to be able to pull it off tomorrow: got usual M/W obligations after work and brother is coming to town for about a week starting tomorrow, and he's staying with me. This will be a test, especially keeping the eating under control.

Still, a good effort on the day.

On the road again

So, delayed by a day, but got out there today (don't think I'm completely dogging it already, I did get in a mile in the pool yesterday afternoon). Headed out just before 8 this morning and realized why I wasn't quite as eager to get out as I wanted to be. I expected to hurt. Started thinking about it and realized that the last time I'd run was a week ago. In DC. At the Marine Corps Marathon. At the end, everything hurt, and that was plainly what I was thinking about in the back of my head. My first few steps were tentative, but once I got going and realized I wasn't the hot mess I was at the end of the MCM, I settled in OK. Decided not to push real hard today and only did 4.5 at about an 11 min. pace. Not blazing fast, but for a guy that not too long ago was happy to do long runs under 15/per.

My plan right now is to hop on the scale manana, see where I am, and start making some more solid plans then. I doing this.

Here we go again...

OK, yes, it's been a loooong time sine either CS or I have been here and posted anything. It's not all bad however, we've both been busy this past summer and early fall. Since we were last here, we both ran the Garden of the Gods 10-miler (and fast enough to make the Ascent cutoff), I ran the Summer Roundup Trial Run (which I only needed to finish in order to qualify for the Ascent), we hiked from Manitou Springs to the top of Pikes Peak twice, we did ladder hikes at the top once, I went up La Luz about 5 times in the 6-7 weeks before the Ascent, and then tackled the Pikes Peak Ascent itself. And everyone survived (in fact, I finished only minute behind CS... A DAMNED MINUTE!). Finally, this past weekend I was in DC and ran the Marine Corps Marathon, which is prompts this posting today.

I had plans to make a great improvement on my time from my first marathon experience two years ago, and largely accomplished it this year: I finished it running and shaved nearly two hours (not a typo) off of my first marathon time. But it wasn't as good as I'd hoped. Inexplicably, I started to ache around the 13 mile mark, my calves started to grab around mile 17, and by 20-22 they were in full revolt, cramping like crazy. While I beat a lot of people that, at least visually, were in better shape than me, I wasn't and am still not happy about the way the last 6-8 miles played out and started plotting another attempt almost as soon as I'd finished. Clearly, there's something wrong with me. While I'm not going to hide this fact, I'm not going to advertise beyond this blog what my plans are (which you can probably guess by looking at the countdown widget in the upper right corner of this blog page). Right now my plan is to go out to PHX, run the time I'd hoped to get in DC, and then I'll back off.

Since I got back from DC Monday night, I haven't run at all. Wanted to give the body a chance to heal up (today's the first day this week I don't feel any after-effect soreness) and rest. I have been in the pool three times, however, and swam a mile each time, so I haven't completely settled back on my laurels. Planning on going out to run tomorrow, something in the area of 5-6 miles, just to see how I feel and to determine how wise it is to aim for another marathon in just over two months. At this moment, I feel pretty confident it can be done, I just need to stay committed for the duration. I want this.

So, starting tomorrow, I'll try to start posting regularly again. Training runs, timing, eating summaries, whatever will keep me honest and on the ball. This thing goes off in 72 days.

One Day in a Row

Well, so here I am for the second time in a long, long time, as promised. Cutting to the chase, here's the info:

Meal	Item Name	Calories
breakfast	All Natural String Cheese	80
breakfast	Oats 'N Honey Granola Bar	190
morning snack	Beef Jerky - Original	70
morning snack	Diet Big Red	0
lunch	Baked Lays Ruffles Original	120
lunch	Diet Coke	0
lunch	Dried Pineapple	140
lunch	6" Subway Turkey/Ham On Flatbread	395
dinner	Apples	75
dinner	Chips And Salsa	150
dinner	Saidie's Chicken Enchiladas	453
dinner	Refried Beans	140
dinner	Sopapillas- 1 With Honey	630

As you can see, everything was going fine until after our track workout tonight...pinche Sadies. Like I said, however, up until that point, things were going fine:

Exercise	Min.	Cal.	Distance
Swim	40	879	1.00 miles
Run	45	989	4.80 miles

That's a total of 2651 calories consumed, and 1868 burned, w/a reserve of 1416 calories (though if you ask me, that number for the enchiladas is probably more than a little light). I keep that up for a couple of weeks and we might actually see something.

Throwin' down the gauntlet

So here's the deal: Garden of the Gods is less than 3 weeks away. Yesterday I did the fastest 7 mile run I've ever done, but it still averaged out to about 12:15 a mile on very flat terrain. That pace puts me at 2:04:30 and that's before adding in elevation, inclines and just general fatigue that comes with a longer distance. This has me more than a little worried.

So, what to do. Well, what can I do besides throw my back in to this from now until I leave for Colorado on June 10. My goal is to get in at least one workout every day (I'm on the fence about whether lifting is going to count) and to try and stay on the good-eats wagon until that Sunday morning after the race. While the workout goal is stiff enough, the eating thing is going to be the real challenge. Two+ weeks on the wagon will not be easy, but I really need to get this under control if I'm going to leave myself a relatively comfortable margin in the GotG...and be ready for the Ascent. So not only will I be keeping track of the usual weight and workout numbers, I'm gong to try and be serious and faithful about keeping the eating log. If I'd keeping one of late, I'd probably be even more scared about the upcoming event(s).

Co Week #3

Well, not as good as week #2 (but I have plenty of excuses):

Monday 4/12 - following DC's advice to NOT run every day, I was going to ride my bike (pulling the little ones) to Veronica's soccer practice. Well, I got home and wifey and I talked for awhile and next thing we knew, it was too late to ride to practice...so we drove.

Tuesday - this was a shuffle in the schedule workout. Today was treated like as though it was Thursday so I headed to the Barr Trail. I was a little spooked (and even came down the main trail instead of taking the race cutoff) to avoid the area where bears were being reported. Great time of 51:14 for Soda Springs park to the top o' W's. last week: 54:25

Wednesday - Veronica had practice and I otherwise simply didn't get out...not sure why???

Thursday - my Tuesday tempo run for 3.5 miles in 40:48, which equals a 11:39 mm. That's up from 42:41 last week. So the question is: do i move up the distance since I have achieved my desired pace, or go one more week and move up the distance only after 3 consecutive weeks of improvement (I've only improved 2 weeks in a row)???

Friday - this was to be my long run since I was to be out of town this wkend...but more pressing things called, like beer, peanuts, and packing for the weekend.

Saturday - had a long drive to a soccer game, hand off the kids to grandparents, meet my wife, and head to Keystone; and do this before the Caps game. needless to say - no run.

Sunday - in all honesty, I really thought today was Saturday and therefore had tomorrow (Sunday) for my long run. Well since it was Sunday and I took about three naps....

Monday - though officially part of week #4, I'm counting it as the long run for week #3. This was supposed to be from the PPA start line to No Name Creek and back. Roughly a 1/4 of the total ascent. Well since I wasn't in CS, I obviously couldn't do that run so I headed out for what i thought would be 6 miles at roughly 9500 feet above sea level. About 1 mile in my back hurt like hell (damn Murphy bed in the condo) and I abandoned the run and instead turned in a 5.4 m walk in 1:23 / 15:26 mm pace. Then proceeded to drive back to CS and straight to a bar to watch the Caps and game #3 (which they won 5-1!!!).

Hopefully this week is more consistent.

Where did we go worng????

Well, I'd like to say that I had good excuses for not working out more than I have since I last posted, or that I was eating great and lost some weight. But what i have is a trip to Mexico and ....well, not much more. I've done OK getting in a a few workouts per week, but haven't been consistent.

With that said, I'm once again turning a new leaf: I will work out every day, screw rest days! To appease DC, I won't run every day, but I will do something. (To make things even more challenging, the NHL playoffs start on Thursday and that means sitting on the sofa - or at a bar if i can't get the game on TV - cutting workouts short, and generally being otherwise distracted.

I will also be setting one goal per week in an effort to otherwise improve my lot. This week: no cheese, on anything! If it has cheese on it, I'm picking something else. This will be tough since our family is apparently related to the Cheeto family.

Week in review:

Total miles - 19.97 By far the biggest sum in many many months. Though this sum won't get me up Pikes Peak (not well at least) nor will it get me to 26.2 on October (if i can make it), but it's a pretty good start.

Monday 4/5: rest day...the last one ever!

Tuesday: Tempo run. 3.5 miles in 42:41. Last week, same run in 43:33. A nice improvement but still off my pre-Mexico time of 41:32. My goal is to add distance after I get this pace to 11:26, which equals a 4:59.59 marathon! From there I'll add distance after three consecutive weeks of improvement. It was windy as hell today, but I'm glad I did the run, had the trail to myself as well.

Wednesday: OK, this was my last rest day.

Thursday: Tempo run up the switch backs. 2.62 miles up in 54:25, the exact freeking same time as the week before...WTF??? I felt a ton faster. Sheet! I did four hill repeats after the run on a short steep hill: 37, 34, 34, 29 seconds (last week: 38, 35, 36, 32). Apparently I need to run more of the road up to the trail. No snow on the trail, even though we had a snow day on Wednesday, but there was a huge tree that had fallen blocking SB#12.

Friday: ran 3 miles on the track while Veronica had soccer practice. Time = 32:47 for a 10:55 pace. Keep in mind, this was a flat soft track with the easy ability to track my pace throughout (and people were watching).

Saturday: very easy 3 miles in 39:45 for a whopping 12:59 pace. Got a good stretch in afterwards.

Sunday: my goal was to run the entire distance, and i did so pushing 2 yr old Aviana in a stroller that acted like a sail in the wind on my way back. All said and done I felt pretty good and I'm glad I did the "whole" thing without any walk breaks. 5 miles in 1:05.54 for a 13:10 pace.

Next week I'm scheduled to go up the Barr trail to No Name Creek (3.9 miles up and 2500 feet in vertical). This is going to be a problem because I'm alone with the kids on Saturday and Veronica has an out of town game at 10:30. In addition, Amy and I are ditching the kids after the game and heading to Keystone through Monday evening. I may have to make the trip up on Friday evening, though I'll have done part of it on Thursday (see why I can't get a full weeks worth of workouts in). Maybe I'll switch Tuesday and Thursday (which would also be more beneficial to my hockey desires).

Best of luck to you NM, we've got some work cut out for us in the next four months.

Muuuuch better, thank you

Day - Saturday
Workout - Long Run
Total miles - 8.0m
Total time - 1:38:49 (12:20/mi)
calories - 1,567C
Avg HR - 154bpm
Notes - Had to go out and run this one on my own because of family obligations. Great, crisp morning, hardly anyone out on the Bosque Trail. Looking back, I see I need to start doing this long runs much faster (like Halloween 10K pace faster) if I want to meet my goal and qualify with a 1/2 before the Ascent signups.

Day - Sunday
Workout - Bike/Swim
Notes - The now-usual Sunday workout, doing about 10ish miles on the stationary bike and .71mi in the pool; I want to get this up to at least a mile every Sunday (at the least) before the end of the year

Day - Monday
Workout - Lift (legs)/run
Total miles - 3.52mi
Total time - 40:01mi (11:22/mi)
calories - 416C
Avg HR - 164bpm
Notes - took day off, got my lift on in the morning and then got out for a early afternoon run and got it done at a nice (i.e. qualifying pace)

Day - Tuesday
Workout - bike/swim/run
Total miles -10ish/.53mi/3.36mi
Total time - ???/???/38:31mi (11:28/mi)
calories - ???/???/384C
Avg HR -???/???/167bpm Notes - Usual morning bike/swim, but went back to the Academy for my second training run of the week (wanted to make sure and get two in before Thursday's event); PR'd by 1min14sec over the previous PR...which I'd set last week. In any case, stoked that I ran that trail at that pace. Problem is that I can't ever go back to that 14ish per mile I used to run that trail in. Ah, progress...

Day - Wednesday
Workout - lift (chest/back)/bike/swim
Total miles -10ish/.71mi
Total time - ???/???
calories - ???/???
Avg HR -???/???

Notes - since I was pretty sure I wasn't going to make the gym on Thursday, decided to get the bike/swim done today; everything went pretty smoothly

Day - Thursday
Workout - Thanksgiving 5K
Total miles - 3.1m
Total time - 31:57 (10:17/mi)
calories - 372C
Notes - HOLY SHITE! Prior to today, the fastest mile I ever ran was the ABQFit Invitational Mile in Sept. '08...at 10:46. Today, I ran 3 of them faster than that (10:21, 10:35, 10:20). Needless to say, another PR. And when it was over, I was gassed. Got out with CS, Mrs. CS, and the eldest CS kid and everyone had a great showing (especially CS Jr. who smoked us all). Wish they'd been taking pix at the finish line, because the three adults all crossed at basically the same time; woulda been a nice shot.

Day - Friday
Workout - lift (arms/shoulders)
Total miles -
Total time -
calories -
Notes - lifted in the morning, but took the rest of the afternoon off after yesterday's event. Closest thing to a run was buying new running shoes.

Day - Saturday
Workout - Academy run
Total miles - 3.29mi
Total time -38:15 (11:38/mi)
calories -
Notes - Got CS out for his 1st run around the Academy. Great conditions: cool but not cold, overcast, little wind, no one else out there to speak of. Ran a good lap at a decent pace...and then gave it all back by stopping for beer and nachos on the way home.

The Week that Was...not much to talk about

Though I got in most of my non-running workouts this past week, I think you'll be able to see that the week wasn't nearly complete. And I feel like shite because of it. The eating wasn't too great, either. And hey, great that this breakdown has come just as the eat-yourself-silly holiday season is about to begin. Bah Pinche Humbug.

As with CS, last week's numbers in parenthesis:

Day - Saturday
Workout - Trail Run
Total miles - 6.57m (5.12m)
Total time - 1:56:20 (1:03:46)
calories - 1,007 (9950
Avg HR - 90 bpm (157pm)
Notes - Just awesome; trail along bottom of Keystone mountain, about 3" of snow, just gorgeous. Altitude, however, is not my friend. And there may have been some beer and nachos later in the day. Oh, and much more nachos.

Day - Sunday
Workout - 8+hr drive
Total miles - 512m
Total time - Like I said, 8+ hours
calories - Given the junk food, net gain for sure
Avg HR - About as low as possible while still being awake
Tempo - 55mph from KS to Denver, 65-70 Denver to Raton Pass, 85 Raton Pass to ABQ
Notes - snow or at least wet everywhere in CO, not-quite-whiteout and icy to top of pass, but NM was practically bone dry for the whole haul in to ABQ

Day - Monday
Workout - Umm, jet lagged?
Total miles -
Total time -
calories -
Avg HR -
Notes - nada

Day - Tuesday
Workout - bike/swim
Total miles -9.84/.56
Total time - 32:00/25:00
calories - 302/??
Avg HR -
Notes - You'll note that I didn't get a run in today. You'll also note that it's a theme for the rest of the week.

Day - Wednesday
Workout - lift (chest/back)
Notes - this is still very disappointing, knowing what I could lift just over 10 years ago vs. what can lift now. 10 years ago me would kick today's me's arse. And notice the run missing?

Day - Thursday
Workout - bike/swim
Total miles - 8.87m/.56
Total time - 32:00/25:00
calories - 259/???
Notes - Nope, still no run here.

Day - Friday
Workout - lift (arms/shoulders)
Notes - See previous lift notes, i.e. "I suck"

Week 11/9 - 11/15

Damn that weight thing!!! Same reasons I'm sure....I eat too much!! Last week's numbers are in parenthesis:

Day - Monday
Workout - Rollerblading x-training
Total miles - 4.02m (4.47m)
Total time - 31:51 (31:48)
calories - since it's wrong, why bother?
Avg HR - 127 bpm (125bpm)
Notes - last week I went farther and in less time. My watch also indicated a 1293 ft elevation change....on a roller rink? wtf?

Day - Tuesday
Workout - Tempo run
Total miles - 3.19m (3.46m)
Total time - 42:14 (49:57)
calories - 528 (536)
Avg HR - 149bpm (150bpm)
Tempo - 1.5m in 18:18 - 161bpm (1.5m in 19:27 - 168bpm)
Notes - ran the same course more than a minute faster and faster is the goal for this!

Day - Wednesday
Workout -
Total miles -
Total time -
calories -
Avg HR -
Notes - nada

Day - Thursday
Workout - 4 x 400
Total miles - 2.51m (2.71m)
Total time - 31:57 (36:45)
calories - 436 (461)
Avg HR - 141bpm (139 bpm)
Notes - Lap times: 2:06, 2:04, 2:10, 1:57 (2:07, 2:04, 2:08, 2:59). Did a shorter warm up, and ran 2 laps in each direction.

Day - Friday
Workout - easy run
Notes - high stress driving, 16 oz curls, and a 200 yard walk to the bar

Day - Saturday
Workout - "long" run
Total miles - 6.7m (5.2m)
Total time - 1:56 (1:08)
calories - 1002 (914)
Avg HR - 134bpm (158bpm)
Notes - nice run in the snow, virgin trails (at least footprint wise) and a dash through a yard.

Day - Sunday
Workout - nada

As a whole, my HR was lower all around. I also think NM has found his Pikes Peak training grounds, wait until he runs there in the summer - he may move in. Had a great weekend, hopefully I can get some runs in this week, the ground is still pretty snow packed as I write.

OK Week...I guess

Not a bad week considering that I was fighting off a cold during the last half of the week. Think that it never got really bad because I kept hitting the gym or going out for a run. Knock on wood, seems to be going away today, just in time for the roadie up to Colorado to spend the weekend w/CS. The weight numbers for the last two weeks have kind of plateaued, but think that's in part because I backslid on the eating a bit. This week's eating was much better, but it probably won't show because of the beer, etc. that will be killed this weekend. C'est la vie.

Here are the week's #'s:

Day - Saturday
Workout - Tramway Run
Total miles - 5.12m
Total time - 1:03.46
calories - 995
Avg HR - 157bpm
Notes - pretty clear that my HR is still too high, even with the hills

Day - Sunday
Workout - Bike/Swim
Total miles -10.6m/.57m
Total time - 32:00/25:00
calories - ???
Avg HR - NA
Notes - the usual off day workout

Day - Monday
Workout - Weightlifting
Total miles - 0m
Total time - 45:00
calories - NA
Avg HR - NA
Notes - skipped the run for the day; unfortunately no cardio today

Day - Tuesday
Workout - Bike/Swim/Run
Total miles - 9m/.57m/3.33m
Total time - 32:00/25:00/40:00m
Calories - NA/NA/NA
Avg HR -NA
Notes - can't wear Garmin in the pool and GPS doesn't work on stationary bike; forgot to take it to run around Albq. Academy

Day - Wednesday
Workout - Weightlifting
Total time - 45:00
Notes - fighting off a cold, skipped run for the day

Day - Thursday
Workout - Bike/Swim/Run
Total miles - 10.2m/.57m/3.38m
Total time - 32:00/25:00/39:45m
calories - NA/NA/692
Avg HR - NA/NA/164bpm
Notes - back to the Academy for run, this time w/Garmin

Day - Friday
Workout - Weightlifting
Total time - 45:00
Notes - no run today, road trip to Keystone

Week in Review

Well, all things considered, I'll call this a very successful week. On to the #'s

Day - Monday
Workout - Rollerblading x-training
Total miles - 4.47m
Total time - 31:48
calories - 918
Avg HR - 125bpm
Notes - cals have to be off. Started at 4:56am

Day - Tuesday
Workout - Tempo run
Total miles - 3.46m
Total time - 49:57
calories - 536
Avg HR - 150bpm
Notes - 20mn warmup, 2o hard, 10 cooldown

Day - Wednesday
Workout - Speed 4 x 400
Total miles - 2.71m
Total time - 36:45
calories - 461
Avg HR - 139bpm
Notes - 2:07, 2:04, 2:08, 1:59 (should have been hills)

Day - Thursday
Workout - Should have been 4 x 400

Day - Friday
Workout - Should have been easy

Day - Saturday
Workout - Easy run
Total miles - 3.17
Total time - 43:45
calories - 507
Avg HR - 162bpm

Day - Sunday
Workout - "long" run
Total miles - 5.2m
Total time - 1:08
calories - 914
Avg HR - 158bpm

The 4 x 400 went great, my fastest last week was 2:11 and my slowest this week was 2:08 - just call me Usain. When I can get all four under 2:00 I'll add a 5th and work up to 8 x 400 and then switch over to 800's. Felt great on the long run, my HR never spiked too hard, had a fantastic time alone on a great trail. For two yrs I've been saying that i would make roller blading a cross training activity and i finally did it. Hit a roller hockey rink nearby. In the dark. All alone. This way i don't have to worry about stones or uneven roads. The tempo run was good. The "push it" portion was to only be 15:00 but I pooped out on the return. My goal here is to run the same course every week and get faster each week. I'm proud of the workouts for my first real training week in quite awhile. i still ate like crapola, but not as bad. My weight went anywhere from 263 - 158, we'll see what tomorrow says.
Total 14.53 miles on my feet (skating doesn't count). 2418 total calories + whatever Monday's real total was. Seems odd that less time and lower HR would burn more cals. I think the watch thought I was running that fast. Still, that's less than one pound burned. I'll eventually have a long run that will surpass this whole week, but I'm planning on taking it easy this season and steadily build up my base and getting quicker.

A good first step...

Did it.

Last time I was in here, I mentioned that I needed to up my pace for yesterday's 10K so that I would be on pace to eventually hit the mark needed to qualify for the '10 Ascent. Wasn't sure I was ready to do it for that kind of distance just yet, but went out and gave it a shot. Felt a bit anxious right up until we started, not because I was worried about the distance (really, at this point 6 miles is a very nice distance), but because I had a definite time I wanted to hit which was much faster than any 6 mile run I'd done before. As with most races/racers (like I did in the half two weeks ago), I went out too fast in for the first mile and had to repeatedly tell myself to slow down. I was able to settle into a fairly even pace for the last 5 miles and ended up bettering my goal by just shy of 4 1/2 minutes.

Next step is the Turkey Day 5K. Not quite sure what specific numbers I want to hit in that run yet. Clearly I want to do at least as well as yesterday, and I'm thinking I'd like to shave about 15-20 seconds per mile off my average, but I'll figure it out as the event gets closer.

In the meantime, gotta keep the work up. Be back tomorrow for the weigh-in.

Test

Just seeing if this works from my phone

Like a Virgin

After V's volleyball game I wanted to get in a run on that side of town because I knew if I drove across town to run I would a) get tired b) it would get dark c) I would talk myself out of it. So I headed towards an Open Space area that's near where she has played soccer in the past. Changed clothes in the car, put on my gloves (it was getting a little cool) and headed out onto virgin trails. AWESOME!!! I'll definitely have to come back this way once I've built up some endurance because I could have run forever back there - may have got lost, but still. The only issue was that Lots of dry leaves + crawly little critter = big sounds coming from the woods. Since this area backs up to the mountains and it was approaching dusk, I got a little spooked into venturing too far away or too far off the main trails. Only ran for about 43:00, but it was nice to get out there again.

Keep it up NM - you're kicking arse!!

You need to start looking for a half to do before registration.

The New Goals

So after the much better than expected showing at the Duke City Half last week, I've started to re-evaluate where I am and my plans for the coming year. As I said before, I had planned to run the first 2 legs of the Triple Crown of Running in the hopes of back-dooring my way into the Pike's Peak Ascent in 2010, but now I'm thinking that a 2:30 half is doable in time to qualify legitimately.

At least partially toward that end, I've ramped up the speed on my treadmill workouts during the week to a point that gets me going faster than the speed I'll need to average in order to make that mark. Right now, I've only run that fast for about 4 miles, but I think I've got time to build up the endurance I need to get there. My goal/plan is to run this coming Saturday's Great Pumpkin Chase at that same speed for the duration of the 10K. If I can do that, I'll have a little over 4 months to get to the point where I can do it for the whole 13.1 in time to register for the Ascent. It's mucho work to do, but I think I can get it done. Which brings me to this posting's graphic.

As you might have noticed, the numbers in the right column have slowly but steadily been coming down. I'm down 33 since we started this little project, and down about 53 since my all time high. For much of the last month, I've been getting in a ton more time at the gym: in addition to the 3 training runs a week plus a long run on the weekend, I've lifting on M/W/F before work, hitting the stationary bike/pool on T/Th/Su (which has the added benefit of starting to get me ready for the Tri I want to do in April). This has meant two-a-day workouts about 3x a week, and as ridiculous as that may sound (haven't done that since high school football), it's not been too bad. Just have to keep it up, keep getting the work in, and keep eating well. Will talk more about that in the next post...

Back from the Dead

Well I am alive. The good news - my weigh in this morning wasn't as bad as I thought. The batteries went out in the scale about two months ago and I was afraid of what I'd see so I was subconsciously not replacing said battery. Other positives are that I went for about a 45 min run last night that included about 20 minutes of running (of which I felt like sheet - not sure how I just did 13.1) and 4x400. My 400 times came in at 2:28. 2:26, 2:18, and 2:11. Not bad, now if I could maintain any of those paces for more than a quarter mile, that would be great. I think I may try throwing these in once a week -assuming I run more than once a week - and after I can get to 8x400's under 2:15 I may switch to 2x800's at 4:30 and gradually raise the number of 800's (after I can do 2 x 800 at 4:30 which may take a while).

Bad news - still eating like a fatarse!

Nice job winning the Fatty McGee weigh in.

Kickin' Arses

So both CS and I did the Duke City Half and we did quite well. For CS, this was his first ever official half, and I shaved of about 22 minutes from my last legit half back in the spring, and came in about 10-15 minutes faster than I was hoping to...not a bad day. That's the happy part...

Now for the more somber news. My time puts qualifying for the Ascent within reach. Not easy, but at least possible, saving me the possibility of needing to run the Triple Crown races to backdoor my way in to the Ascent. I've clearly got my work cut out for me.